Thursday, January 30, 2014

Rick Sutcliffe is, by all accounts, a smart and personable man who had a first-rate career as a pitcher in the major leagues. But his year with the Cardinals reflects how distressed the proud franchise had become in the final years of Anheuser-Busch ownership.

Twenty years ago, when St. Louis signed Sutcliffe to a minor-league contract with the hope he could earn a spot in their rotation, it was a sure sign of the desperate state of the Cardinals’ starting pitching.

Sutcliffe had injured a knee in 1993 while with the Orioles and posted a 5.66 ERA in 28 starts. On the basis of that performance, he should have been finished as a big-league pitcher.

Yet, after starting pitcher Donovan Osborne underwent shoulder surgery, sidelining him for the 1994 season, the Cardinals, seeking an inexpensive alternative, signed Sutcliffe to a minor-league contract on Jan. 31, 1994, and invited him to spring training as a non-roster pitcher.

“I have no doubt I can still pitch,” Sutcliffe told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Pitching coach Joe Coleman: “With his breaking ball and pitching in our ballpark, he could be effective.”

General manager Dal Maxvill: “The reports we have are his arm is in good shape and he was throwing the ball well at the end of the (1993) season.”

...Common sense indicated the Cardinals, owned by an increasingly disinterested Anheuser-Busch, were more focused on expense savings than they were in winning championships.

“That move showed me they’re not going after somebody who’s in the top of his prime,” candid Cardinals pitcher Bob Tewksbury said to the Post-Dispatch after Sutcliffe’s signing.

Former Cardinals third baseman Terry Pendleton told the St. Petersburg Times: “They’re saving money. They’re not trying to win anything.”

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When I think of Sutcliffe, I think of his amazing 1984 season with the Cubs (16-1, right?) and how he seemed to scoop his glove hand on the front of his delivery. It was such a distinctive look to me as a kid and it made it look almost like he was in slow motion. I can easily imagine how that delivery was advantageous, as it could distract the hitter or affect his timing. I'm not sure if he deserved the Cy Young over Gooden (or others, perhaps), but Stucliffe was quite the story that summer.

I still chuckle at Cards fans talking about "the bad times". The Cards were 8 games under .500 in 1994, had one terrible season in 1995, then won the division in 1996. I don't know how those fans were able to survive!

A-B did let payroll sink, but another big factor was the Cards did not produce any pitching in the mid-90s. Donovan Osborne couldn't stay healthy, Arocha was a bust, Allen Watson wasn't very good. When they finally won the division in '96 the rotation was headlined by high priced talent Andy Benes and Todd Stottlemyre.

That same year, the Yankees gave 19 starts and 120 innings to Terry Mulholland, who finished with basically the same ERA as Sutcliffe. Mulholland's ERA+ was 71 and Sutcliffe's was 64.

Heh...

The #2 starter on the Cubs - he actually led the team in starts - was Willie Banks (2nd most starts, 78 ERA+). They also gave 15 starts to Mike Morgan (2-10, ERA+ of 63).... Oh, and it was the last year of the Jose Guzman can replace Greg Maddux! debacle (4 starts, ERA+ of 46).

Yeah... cry. me. a. river.

EDIT: The infamous Anthony Young was basically the #3 starter - but he wasn't half bad (ERA+ of 107 over 19 starts).

Sutcliffe was done in 1994 (6.52 ERA, FIP must have been astronomical given his high HR rate and more walks than K). He wasn't good in 1993 with the Orioles either. In 1992 with the Orioles he was the definitive innings eater. ERA+ was only 89, but he made 36 starts and pitched 237 innings. He had some value in that every start he made was one that didn't have to go to Bob Milacki, or Jose Mesa, or someone in AAA.

“That move showed me they’re not going after somebody who’s in the top of his prime,” candid Cardinals pitcher Bob Tewksbury said to the Post-Dispatch after Sutcliffe’s signing.

Sure it didn't work out, but taking a flyer on a cheap, older pitcher hoping he's got something left in the tank is something all teams do. The Cardinals not going after the likes of say, Doug Drabek or David Cone at the time might be telling, but even if they sign a star in his prime you still need to round out the staff.

"Signing an old middle reliever like Koji Uehara instead of a closer in his prime shows me the Red Sox are just trying to save money, not trying to win anything"

-Made up quote but coming off the 2012 season, I'm sure you can find some pessimistic Red Sox fans saying much the same thing.

This would be a fun little query I'm trying to play on BBREF.... Is there any player for whom you could produce a full starting 9 when considering players he was traded for... Was looking at some of the obvious candidates -- Mike Morgan doesn't get very far... Edwin Jackson gets you a full - and pretty darn good - OF and a damn fine rotation.

You're counting all players he was traded with and for - Buck was traded to the Jays along with Johnson/Buehrle, then traded to the Mets for Dickey.

I am - I started by just sticking with the "for", even if a 5 player deal and the guy in question was just a throw-in, but I was coming up surprisingly short so I expanded it... I think if I peeled back the Buck layers and limited it to guys "going the other way", I might still be able to fill a starting 9... but this way was more fun.

Team Traded-For-Doyle-Alexander has all kinds of pitching depth, but not too many position players. Frank Robinson and John Smoltz are both on the team, and Smoltz's career ended 53 years after Robinson's began.

The ownership story in STL in the early 1990s is a bit more complex the just the results. What had happened was that the Gussie Busch who bought the Cardinals in 1954 had died, and the team had passed into the hands of his son, the next Gussie Busch in line (I can't keep track of which one was Gussie Jr. or III, or IV, but the numbers are in that range). And make no mistake, although the accountants might have said that the team was owned by the beer company, everyone knew that Gussie Busch had treated it as his personal property. Well, the son didn't seem to care about baseball at all. He didn't go to the games, or get involved. All he seemed to want was for it to show a profit every year, which MLB teams can't do - as investments, they're like stocks. You buy them and wait for the price to go up, then sell. Yearly operations aren't expected to make profits, although I don't suppose anyone complains too hard if they do.

In any case, I am understating it a bit. The new Gussie treated the team with what looked to me as almost jealousy. It was as if he thought he'd competed with the team for his father's affection, and lost. He basically got rid of it as soon as he could find a man he knew and liked to sell the team to for less than it was really worth. That turned out to be Bill DeWitt, so it worked out OK for us here in STL. Regardless of my cheap pop psychology, the "rough spot" for the Cards is directly related to which Gussie Busch owned the team. - Brock Hanke

When I think of Sutcliffe, I think of his amazing 1984 season with the Cubs (16-1, right?) and how he seemed to scoop his glove hand on the front of his delivery. It was such a distinctive look to me as a kid and it made it look almost like he was in slow motion. I can easily imagine how that delivery was advantageous, as it could distract the hitter or affect his timing.

It was his throwing hand: he'd scoop it way up behind him while the glove hand went straight up & out front; it looked like he was trying to hail a cab while scratching an itch in the middle of his back.

If you ever need a team with about 19 Cs on it, the Brad Ausmus transaction team is what you're looking for.

ooh ... if we are allowing everybody in the transaction, the Ken Holtzman team is pretty solid. Awesome OF, pretty awesome C duo, a good rotation and a solid bullpen. We'll have to dig up some IF but criminy.